Bristol-Myers Squibb, Takeda and Nektar Therapeutics – clinical collaboration in Immuno-oncology

The oncology industry has seen an explosion of news recently from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, where more than 32,000 oncology professionals from around the world came to discuss state-of-the-art treatment modalities, new therapies, and ongoing controversies in the field. One of the highlights was that NKTR-214/Nivolumab Efficacy Sustained in Phase II Findings. Combining the CD122-biased cytokine NKTR-214 with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab (Opdivo) showed promising antitumor activity, particularly in PD-L1–negative patients, according to updated data from the phase I/II PIVOT-02 trial. [1]

SMi Group is pleased to have expert insight from Senior Vice President Biology & Preclinical Development of Nektar Therapeutics – Jonathan Zalevsky, who will be delivering a presentation at the Immuno-Oncology Conference (26 – 27 September, London, UK) on enhanced cancer vaccine effectiveness with NKTR-214. After presenting Phase 1 results in September 2016, Nektar entered into a clinical collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb to evaluate NKTR-214 as a potential combination treatment regimen with Opdivo (nivolumab) in five tumor types and eight potential indications. In May 2017, came a research collaboration with Takeda to explore the combination of NKTR-214 with five oncology compounds from Takeda’s cancer portfolio. [2] In 2018, despite concerns over efficacy of the drug holding up over time, partners announced their plans to launch large Phase 3 studies [3]

This September Jonathan Zalevsky will be sharing with participants of SMi’s Immuno-Oncology Conference findings on:

• NKTR-214 biases signalling through the IL-2 receptor pathway to generate profound effector T-cell responses while reducing regulatory T-cell activity in tumours
• Combination dosing of NKTR-214 dramatically enhances activity of several tumour vaccine modalities in mouse models
• The unique profile of T-cell activity generated by NKTR-214 may enable the next generation of tumour vaccines

Further details about this and many other topical presentations and case studies that are planned for Immuno-Oncology Conference can be found at http://www.immuno-oncology-conference.com/phhqPR

Deadline for registration with £200 is 29 June – reserve your ticket now at
http://www.immuno-oncology-conference.com/phhqPR

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